All About Fixed Weeks (RIV/CCV/AUL/VGF/POLY/TOWER/VHD/FWC Charts)

[Mouseforward]

At this point, I'd rather view the fixed week as a sunk cost and stay as long as we can, regardless of whether we lose a night or two. It's still fewer points out of my account than upgrading my room, and previous point reallocations for November have made my fixed week an even better deal anyway (booking my same room for the week would cost more now).

That is my prediction for early Dec, I think they will have to do a second round of point reallocations as early Dec gets more popular ( overtaking fall ).

It is unfortunate that RIV has such a point difference between SV and PV that you can get a SV FW and still be spending less points than being forced to book PV. So I am content with my FW even if it does not get upped in points considering how fast the first week in December went this year.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

Is there a FW at the Poly that is advantageous to purchase today? Does anyone have the available FWs chart for Poly tower?

 

[SugarSweetLee]

I am pretty sure all points for *any* stay are considered consumed when you check in for that stay, no matter when you leave.

Before becoming members, we rented points for a stay. There is a convoluted backstory to this, but to keep it short, we knew we would only be able to stay X of the Y nights booked on the reservation. When we went down to check out on our last possible day, we told them we had to leave earlier than the reservation was for. They told us the points for the unused final night stay would be credited to the account.

ETA unless you were referring specifically to the context of a FW booking!

 

[Brian Noble]

The owners got pixie dusted. The Home Resort Rules are pretty clear on this. Clause II.5.d.4:

"All Vacation Points applied to a reservation are considered used starting on the reservation arrival date. If a reservation is canceled on the date of arrival, the Vacation Points will not be refunded."

 

[stat]

The owners got pixie dusted. The Home Resort Rules are pretty clear on this. Clause II.5.d.4:

"All Vacation Points applied to a reservation are considered used starting on the reservation arrival date. If a reservation is canceled on the date of arrival, the Vacation Points will not be refunded."

There might be something in between the hard rules and pixie dust for weather events. We had to leave Hilton Head a day early due to a massive incoming ice storm last winter and they refunded a night of points after following what seemed to be a common protocol. The manager put a note on our reservation, after which we were told to call member services to finalize the refund.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Is there a FW at the Poly that is advantageous to purchase today? Does anyone have the available FWs chart for Poly tower?

I purchased week 36 at PIT ( Poly Tower), resort studio ,includes Labor Day holiday, which is one of the four cheapest FW ( September) in the whole FW chart. If you’re looking for cheapest, that’s where to look. The FW points for this month are 114 pts. for the FW. The points really jump after this. We love visiting in September so this worked out for us.

If your question is based on demand, you have to look at the first two weeks in December. However, at PIT, these are not cheap for FW.

 

[Mouseforward]

Is there a FW at the Poly that is advantageous to purchase today? Does anyone have the available FWs chart for Poly tower?

As far as advantageous - only high demand weeks are advantageous, as why would you pay a 10% premium for a low demand week at Poly? If you want a better deal you usually have to buy more than 150 points, so you are looking at at least period 3 and up or you have to get a second 25+ point contract to hit the discounts.

In addition, only the lower point room types ( RV) are usually sought out for fixed week since they book up first. I did not even consider fixed weeks at Poly since for a RV studio I would never stay (RV) in the tower as it has guaranteed poor views and smaller 4 person rooms vs the SV longhouse that has better views , sleeps 5 and is a larger room.

They do not sell fixed weeks for the longhouses.

 

[stat]

As far as advantageous - only high demand weeks are advantageous, as why would you pay a 10% premium for a low demand week at Poly? If you want a better deal you usually have to buy more than 150 points, so you are looking at at least period 3 and up or you have to get a second 25+ point contract to hit the discounts.

In addition, only the lower point room types ( RV) are usually sought out for fixed week since they book up first. I did not even consider fixed weeks at Poly since for a RV studio I would never stay (RV) in the tower as it has guaranteed poor views and smaller 4 person rooms vs the SV longhouse that has better views , sleeps 5 and is a larger room.

They do not sell fixed weeks for the longhouses.

Maybe he was asking if there are any weeks that cost less than the actual current points required to book. E.g., week 7 at RIV is 153 points (includes the 10% premium) but that's less points than I'd need if I booked that week manually.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

Maybe he was asking if there are any weeks that cost less than the actual current points required to book. E.g., week 7 at RIV is 153 points (includes the 10% premium) but that's less points than I'd need if I booked that week manually.

That's how I interpreted it. My assumption is no, because aren't most "cheaper" FW a result of seasonal point rebalancing that happened after the FW charts were established? Since the Poly Tower FWs are brand new, that wouldn't have happened yet...

 

[davidhr]

Similar to Riviera, Poly week 39 is considerably cheaper most years with a FW.

 

[stat]

That's how I interpreted it. My assumption is no, because aren't most "cheaper" FW a result of seasonal point rebalancing that happened after the FW charts were established? Since the Poly Tower FWs are brand new, that wouldn't have happened yet...

Agreed, I had the same thought, but even with the fresh chart someone may have analyzed it and noticed an advantage is already predictable in most future years for certain weeks. There are often cases where DVC "snapped the line" on an unusually low confluence of days spread across seasons that will not repeat most years going forward.

 

[Flash_Sloth]

There might be something in between the hard rules and pixie dust for weather events. We had to leave Hilton Head a day early due to a massive incoming ice storm last winter and they refunded a night of points after following what seemed to be a common protocol. The manager put a note on our reservation, after which we were told to call member services to finalize the refund.

I know that DVC has a hurricane policy: https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/hurricane-policy

With the way that they've rebalanced the points charts since I purchased my FW, I'm not sure what point refund I may get if I have to depart early because of a hurricane. Hopefully I never have to deal with that.

Also, I wonder if it also stretches to California when Florida is impacted? This year, I have my FW41 at RIV with a split stay at VGC immediately after. If they shut down MCO because of the weather, I could be stuck.

 

[Sandisw]

There might be something in between the hard rules and pixie dust for weather events. We had to leave Hilton Head a day early due to a massive incoming ice storm last winter and they refunded a night of points after following what seemed to be a common protocol. The manager put a note on our reservation, after which we were told to call member services to finalize the refund.

The contract does have a hurricane policy in place but I think they tend to apply it to other related events too.

 

[Sandisw]

I know that DVC has a hurricane policy: https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/vacation-planning/hurricane-policy

With the way that they've rebalanced the points charts since I purchased my FW, I'm not sure what point refund I may get if I have to depart early because of a hurricane. Hopefully I never have to deal with that.

Also, I wonder if it also stretches to California when Florida is impacted? This year, I have my FW41 at RIV with a split stay at VGC immediately after. If they shut down MCO because of the weather, I could be stuck.

The policy for hurricane is based on location of the bad weather so if one has a CA trip but isn’t impacted by the storm, then their flexibility doesn’t apply.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

The policy for hurricane is based on location of the bad weather so if one has a CA trip but isn’t impacted by the storm, then their flexibility doesn’t apply.

Standard policy may not apply, but I def feel like that would be a "plead your case to the CM situation and see what they can do" situation.

When guests are staying DVC and a storm is bad enough to shut airports down so they can't depart/fly home on their checkout day, what has DVC historically done to assist with lodging?

 

[Sandisw]

Standard policy may not apply, but I def feel like that would be a "plead your case to the CM situation and see what they can do" situation.

When guests are staying DVC and a storm is bad enough to shut airports down so they can't depart/fly home on their checkout day, what has DVC historically done to assist with lodging?

Same as cash guests..they try to help you secure something for the cost of points or to book a cash room.

They do try to give a discounted rate for cash and I believe they do sometimes have some fixed price food options for guests.

But, anyting outside the actual policy is still a form of pixie dust and owners should never count that they will get a refund of points.

Guests are not given free stays

 

[SugarSweetLee]

Same as cash guests..they try to help you secure something for the cost of points or to book a cash room.

They do try to give a discounted rate for cash and I believe they do sometimes have some fixed price food options for guests.

But, anyting outside the actual policy is still a form of pixie dust and owners should never count that they will get a refund of points.

Guests are not given free stays

I didn't expect free stays, I guess my point is that extenuating circumstances do allow for operations a bit outside the usual (though yes, not guaranteed)

 

[Brian Noble]

Standard policy may not apply, but I def feel like that would be a "plead your case to the CM situation and see what they can do" situation.

Right. This is pixie dust. It definitely happens, but you cannot count on it. And it is much less likely to happen if there is no emergeny event and you just want to leave early.

The short version is: I would not keep my automatically-booked fixed week unless I expected to use it all and/or consume all the points in the stay.

 

[Sandisw]

I didn't expect free stays, I guess my point is that extenuating circumstances do allow for operations a bit outside the usual (though yes, not guaranteed)

Absolutely but just letting those who may be new that there is no obligation by DVC to make exceptions for leaving early or getting stuck.

With any trip, assume all points are gone from check in, especially with a FW.

 

[WeIcomeHome]

Is there a FW at the Poly that is advantageous to purchase today? Does anyone have the available FWs chart for Poly tower?

Week 39 is the best deal on the current FW charts for both RIV and Poly because the FW charts were developed in 2023 when Week 39 was fully in September but this only happens around every 7 years with the rest at least partial October dates with much higher point costs.

There are some other weeks with some savings some years but nowhere near the max 20 points per week in savings week 39 has for 5 years through the life of the contract.

To spot other options look for weeks fall at the end of a low point period with a higher point transition after then look at the 2023 calendar for when transition weeks mostly fell in the lower point period. These weeks are the end of January, mid February and Mid May. Other possibilities are weeks with potential holidays (Easter and Thanksgiving) but didn't have a holiday in 2023.